Saturday, 5 July 2014

Back to Earth, Back to Patch and Back to the Farne Islands

After my recent exciting trip to Hungary it didn’t take long to get
back into normal routine and I managed a quick look down by the lake.Whilst the younger pair of Great CrestedGrebes failed to produce young that survived more than a few days,
the long established pair I believe produced five young, but I’m told that only
three survive.Although when I took a
look I could only find two youngsters.The Mute Swans had until
recent days lost all but two of the cygnets.I understand some have died from natural causes.A pity as they had reached a decent
size.Both Sedge Warbler and Reed
Warbler have been heard from the reed-beds.

26th June.Today saw me visiting the Farne
Islands on a day tour
with Marie, Sam and Mark.This had been
arranged for sometime.Arriving in
Seahouse bright and early we found that landing on Staple Island
was going to be impossible, so the trip was delayed until 11.30am.We spent the time in the sun along by Stag
Rock.Very few birds about apart from
mergansers, and auks and terns at sea, but an enjoyable walk all the same.

I actually think we got a very decent deal from Billy Shiels
as the cost of the trip was reduced to £20, although we still spent a couple of
hours on the sea and rounded Staple Island before spending three plus hours on
Inner Farne and returning to Seahouses after 5.00pm where of course we had
excellent fish and chips.No, we didn’t
see the Bridled Tern on this occasion and neither did we see many twitchers,
however Inner Farne held too many folk for my liking and it was perhaps this
that made photography far more difficult than last year.Some of the antics from people near to the
Arctic Terns left much to be desired.OK, I accept youngsters getting excited and its part of the experience
for them and I as much as anyone likes to see the general public getting
involved with wildlife, but when you see grown men and women waving there arms
about and waving sticks and goodness knows what else in the airs whilst running
around like frightened rabbits (it was a minority) I do think it a bit OTT.It isn’t a theme park guys!They’re terns for goodness sake, not chemical
weapons!It would be easy to stand on
chicks if you don’t take care and one bloke who barged through, knocking one of
the marker posts over, almost did without realising! That said we did have a great day and I may
well be back before the season is over and it was the small minority who
behaved in such a manner.I spoke to one
or two holidaymakers for whom a trip to the Farnes was a first and they seemed
to have coped with the Arctic Terns without resorting to silly behaviour.

Shags

The ahhhhhh factor

Arctic Tern

3rd July.Today saw me at the NWT/NHSN Photography Awards night.Not to pick a prize up I hasten to add,
although on my list of things to do is to at least get an image short listed in
the future.It may mean investing a few
quid.No, no, not in bribes, but for new
equipment. :-)A very nice evening with
a few familiar faces being spotted in the audience.I’m pleased to say that Sam was on the list
of judges this year.The winners in some
cases would not have been my choice, but it is simply down to individual taste
I guess.There was some very good
quality images produced.I felt it a
pity that shortlisted entries on display had not been printed off onto better
quality paper as they were in my opinion not shown off well, but I accept it is
likely to be a matter of cost.A very
good evening.

6 comments:

Pity about being unable to land on Staple Mark, but that is a common problem and didn't spoil the day at all. I remember as a small child going to the Farnes and being unable to land at all and just remaining on the sea which was in itself still a great experience, giving me my first recollection of Grey Seals. I'd rather not remember how long ago that was!!!

An excellent day on the Farnes! (can you have a bad day on the Farnes?) Remind me to take a large stick to keep the Terns away next time or is that take a large stick to keep people away from the Terns?Sam

About Me

''Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best.”-- Henry Van Dyke.
If you think the common can be as exciting as the rare then this blog may be for you, as it attempts to express my passion for birds and nature. All are part of my daily life and my home patch is all within walking distance of my home, although I often explore wider areas. I ought to be described as a naturalist rather than a birder. I believe that all who take an interest in nature will be well rewarded, but that such rewards ought not to be without reciprocation. My own contribution is made by volunteering, much of which is done in an attempt to help others share in the experience of the natural world. I attempt to reflect my interest in conservation and the fact that I believe the future of a natural world seriously in trouble relies very much relies on an openness of information to all responsible people. Responsible being the key word, and I therefore hope to keep the welfare of wildlife paramount at all times.